2021 Sunset Speedway

The COVID-19 virus continued to impact the Ontario motorsports scene and delayed the start of the 2021 season. However, Track Management at Sunset Speedway, Flamboro Speedway, Peterborough Speedway and Sauble Speedway, along with APC Series Officials, was able to work with all levels of government to make events possible.

The 2021 APC United Late Model championship for Pro Late Models kicks off in early July at Delaware Speedway with the Spectra Premium 100. The next race, called Interstate Batteries 100, will be conducted at Flamboro Speedway. Round three is hosted by Sauble Speedway. The race will be sponsored by AP Emissions. Then the championship makes the first of two visits to Sunset Speedway for the Dayco 100. The series returns to Sauble for the Stewarts 100. Then it is back to Flamboro, where drivers compete in the London Recreational Racing 100. The penultimate event of 2021 is the APC 100 at Sunset. Titles are determined during the Qwick Wick Championship Weekend at Delaware.

The series rules remained unchanged from last season, with the cars constructed to specifications and controls common to most stock car series. The chassis is a tube frame covered with fiberglass bodies. Depending on the engine choice, a car can weigh as much as 2800-lbs. Crate motors from General Motors (GM 604 & GM 602) and Ford (347) are used in the series. To regulate expenses, competitors use a spec tire from American Racer and Bilstein A2 shock absorbers. There are also rules which restrict the options available for transmissions, ignition components, body material, brakes, etc.

To determine the starting order of the race, drivers participate in a qualifying session. Positions one to ten are inverted according to points and season attendance is used to establish the final grid. Before each race, the cars are fitted with a new set of American Racer tires, receive a technical inspection and are impounded until the start of the event.

Round three of the 2021 APC United Late Model championship for Pro Late Models was scheduled for Sauble Speedway. However, rain forced the cancellation of the event.

The third race of the season was held at Sunset Speedway. Drivers would compete in a one-hundred-lap contest around the 1/3-mile banked asphalt oval.

Starting on the pole for the Dayco 100 was the sixth-fastest qualifier, Jordan Sims, in the No. 47 Sims Countertops Ford Fusion. ‘As luck would have it,’ Sims started first in the previous round at Flamboro Speedway and led the first half of the race. At Sunset Speedway, he would surrender the top spot to the other front row starter Ryan Kimball. Sims would finish tenth, while Kimball would cross the finish line in fourteenth.

Winning his first APC United Late Model event was Jordan Howse. During the qualifying session, Howse was seventh fastest driving the No. 8 Glenn Windrem Trucking Chevrolet SS and was gridded in the ninth position for the start. He moved forward early in the race and before the one-third mark of the contest, Howse was in fifth-place. With eighteen laps remaining, he took the lead from Dale Shaw and captured the victory.

The fastest qualifier by 0.062-seconds was the 2015 APC United Late Model champion, Dale Shaw. After the series starting line-up rules were implemented, Shaw would begin the race in the fourth spot. By lap-20, he was in the lead. After the contest’s third caution, Shaw came under pressure from Pete Shepherd, but his biggest challenge came from Jordan Howse. Unable to defend against Howse, he finished second.

Third place went in the Dayco 100 went to Pete Shepherd III. Shepherd opened the season with a sixth-place result at Delaware Speedway but rallied back to collect a runner-up finish at Flamboro Speedway. During the time trials, he recorded the second-fastest time and started the event in the eighth position. Late in the contest, Shepherd battled Dale Shaw for the lead but was no match for the leaders and collected a third.

The reigning APC United Late Model champion, Jo Lawrence, entered round three at Sunset Speedway with a disappointing ninth-place finish at the season opener and a fifth at Flamboro Speedway. The driver of the No. 78 CANUSA Automotive Warehousing Chevrolet Camaro was fifth fastest in qualifying and after the inversion, Lawrence was gridded in the same position. A solid run netted him a fourth-place result.

JR Fitzpatrick would sooner forget the previous round at Flamboro Speedway. In an incident with Dale Shaw during the race, his new Wight Motorsports chassis was written off. The crew reassembled the Ford Mustang built for the Canadian Short Track Nationals allowing Fitzpatrick to qualify fourth fastest. For much of the race, he would bounce around the top five but would ultimately finish sixth.

It was a character-building weekend for the current point’s leader and 2017 APC United Late Model champion Brandon Watson. In qualifying, Watson could only manage the fourteenth fastest time in the field of twenty-five entries. Starting where he qualified, he advanced a couple of positions but was required to make a pit-stop to address a loose condition during one of the cautions and would finish eleventh.

Entering the 2021 race season, Treyten Lapcevich made deals to compete in the NASCAR Pinty’s and APC series. However, after the schedules were released, Lapcevich had a conflict with Sunset and Trois-Rivieres. Arrangements were made that saw him qualify at Trois-Rivieres and fly back to Sunset for the race. Lane Zardo practiced and qualified the car. Lapcevich returned in time to start twenty-fifth and finish ninth.

The top three finishers for round three of the 2021 APC United Late Model Series at Sunset Speedway. Standing in the center is the driver of the No. 8 Glenn Windrem Trucking Chevrolet SS and first-time series winner Jordan Howse. On the right is the 2015 APC champion and runner-up of the Dayco 100, Dale Shaw. Completing the top three is the driver who moved into second in the title chase Peter Shepherd.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	SPONSOR / CAR	LAPS
1	9	Jason Howse	Glenn Windrem Trucking / Chevrolet SS	100
2	4	Dale Shaw	Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet SS	100
3	8	Pete Shepherd III	APC Auto Parts Centres / Chevrolet Camaro	100
4	5	Jo Lawrence	CANUSA Automotive Warehousing / Chevrolet Camaro	100
5	3	Jake Sheridan	Cameron Crane & Riggers / Ford Fusion	100
6	6	JR Fitzpatrick	Cambridge Rigging/ATV Depot / Ford Mustang	100
7	15	Travis Hallyburton	Hillsdale Service Centre / Ford Mustang	100
8	18	Connor James	SSG Gloves / Toyota Camry	100
9	24	Treyten Lapcevich	ACE Services/PFC Brakes / Toyota Camry	100
10	1	Jordan Sims	Sims Countertops / Ford Fusion	100
11	14	Brandon Watson	Shear Metal Products / Chevrolet Camaro	100
12	7	Andrew Gresel	Gallinger Capital/Image Wraps / Ford Mustang	100
13	17	Shae Gemmell	North Country Property Maintenance Inc / Ford Mustang	100
14	2	Ryan Kimball	SMG Motorsports/Nova Engines / Chevrolet SS	100
15	11	Josh Stade	Vinnys Masonry / Toyota Camry	100
16	10	Nick Goetz	Great Lakes Concrete / Ford Fusion	100
17	13	Tyler Di Venanzo	Retail Design Group/MRC Wireless / Chevrolet Camaro	99
18	21	Dustin Jackson	Northern Landscaping / Chevrolet	99
19	23	Colton Everingham	NTN Bearings / Toyota Camry	99
20	19	Tom Gibbons	Tom Gibbons Concrete Finishing / Chevrolet SS	97
21	12	Shawn Chenoweth	London Recreation Racing / Chevrolet Camaro	91
22	22	Danny Benedict	Mobil 1/GTA Racing Design / Chevrolet Camaro	90
23	16	Dwayne Baker	NISCO National Leasing / Ford	79
24	20	James Horner	Custom Forming Walls / Chevrolet Camaro	51
25	24	Brandon McFerran	Shaw Motorsports / Chevrolet SS	2

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.